friend/ Selma Flynn (friend)
to all mattew love ones you shoud be very proud to have mattew in your live he is a beautiful little boy. mom i cry the hold time i reading mattew story it is very hard to loss a child .i dont care how old they are they are my baby he is a beautiful little boy my baby is in heaven to but he is 21 he would be very proud to take care if mattew untill you came meet with your baby please feel free to visit bobby web at www.bobbo.memory-of.com Close

Mom who Understands / Chris Furtick (Mom who understands )
I'm so sorry about your sweet child. No matter the age, our love for our children is the same. My son was twenty seven. I feel very fortunate to have had him for this time. he was and will always be my baby. May God bless.

Memories/ Mum Hi Matthew,Its been almost seven months now since you got your wings, in one way I can believe time has passed so quickly and in another way itseems so long sinse I saw your cheeky grin or heard your voice. I miss you as much now as I did the day you left, probably more, time takes me further away from you, that hurts and so I try to think of it another way, time brings me closer to being with you again.In seven months I have realised that you may have left us too soon but you left behind a lifetimes worth of memories. Every time we think of you there is something to make us laugh, like the time you wanted to sit in the front seatof the car, we had gone to pets at home and I told you that you had to sit in the back, off you ran ahead and suddenly you disappeared. I panicked and began frantically searching for you, all the time wondering how you could have just disappeared, there was nowhere for you to go. I found you a few minutes later... in the front seat of the car with that cheeky grin on your face.Or the time you started sleep walking, or should I say running? It wasn't long before you got your wings, I was in bed one night beside you and I was reading my book, the next thing you jumped up out of bed and started running round in circles at the side of the bed, after about 3 or 4 'laps' you got back in bed and started snoring gently. You did that for three nights on the run, on the fourth night it was slightly different, after the normal 3 or 4 laps you told me you needed the toilet and off you ran to the bathroom. I followed and by the time I got there you were perched on the side of the bath with your pants round your ankles. 'Matthew thats not the toilet, thats the bath' I said but you told me it was the toilet and that you needed a wee, no amount of persuation could convince you that you were sat on the bath and although I was trying not to laugh I had tears rolling down my face. By morning you had forgotten all about it and when I told you, you laughed and said 'Sorry mum'.I could go on all day about the wonderful memories you gave us and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for them.My love alwaysYour very proud MumxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxClose

thank you for lettin me visit ur site / Caroline Jamiesmum Butterfield (spoke to his mum )
hi im jamiesmum and i have spoke to mathews mum on other site i am so proud of your site you can visit my site any time you like in my sons memory i know how it feels to lose a child as i did a son 10 years old last may xxxxxxxx

Gaurdian Angel / Barbara
My name is Barbara. I am a friend of Sarah's and live in America. The loss of Matthew was felt strongly by those whom I shared her grief with. Many tears and prayers went out to this small family thousands of miles away.The following is a recent letter written to my friends about a boy named Jarrod, Matthew and his mum. It's about the love our heavenly Father has for us. So much love that he gave his only Son....and continues to give in ways many people never now. The following letter shows you the ways He continues to Give His Love...if only you choose to see.

June 11, 2005

God is at work again in the most beautiful way!

Remember my friend Sarah? She lost her 4 year old Son Matthew Jack Burns to meningitis, when the Lord called him home in November. I shared her loss with you and my friends including, Becky and Steve. They have three children under 10 years old. Becky was my roommate at one time and a nurse. I introduced her to Steve. Becky wrote to Sarah like you did to share condolences. She was so taken by Matthew's loss.

Becky recently wrote an e-mail asking for prayer to lift up her oldest son, Jarrod to the Lord for healing. He has been sick with a high fever (102) and not responding to two different antibiotics. He is suffering severe headaches as well. That is when I got nervous reading her e-mail. Then Becky wrote that the blood work came back "negative for meningitis." Whew! What a relief! But still a fever with migraines? Migraines is the diagnosis the doctor gave him.

I sent Becky's e-mail to Sarah. She agreed that she had never heard of fevers with migraines either. She wrote telling me that Matthew's first blood culture was negative too. She strongly stressed that Becky insist they repeat the test. I copy/pasted Sarah's letter and sent it to Becky. The next day I got an e-mail from Becky that was a group mailing to all her family and friends saying that Jarrod was in Loma Linda University Children's Pediatric Hospital with Meningitis! She also said, a special thank you to Sarah for warning her about the false negative blood culture. Becky had taken Sarah's advice and insisted they re-run the blood culture; it came back positive!

I wrote to Sarah of course and told her. In case you forgot. Sarah buried Matthew in his Spiderman outfit because he lived in it from morning to night. He loved being Spiderman. It looks like Jarrod has a guardian angel named Matthew (who wears a Spiderman outfit).

Matthew was a 4 year old living in Bolton, England. He died November 30, 2004. Jarrod became ill June 2005. Taken to the hospital in Loma Linda, California USA to save his life. The boys never met. The families live an ocean apart.

If you ever think that a people are so removed from you that they do not concern you, remember Matthew and Jarrod. We are our brother's keepers. What happens to one does affect the other. If we help one person, that person may help another and so on and so on.

How many times in our lives have we said, "It's a small world!" That is just another reminder of how connected we are. The events in Matthew's short life saved Jarrod's life. Actually God saved Jarrod's life by a series of events that took place by divine "timing." This was no accident or coincident. There is too much love involved for it to be that cold. God is at work here! Only God could be at work here. There is no other explaination!

Whenever I think of Sibel in Heaven I think of little Matthew, playing alongside her in a Spiderman outfit and Sibel dressed as Tinkerbell. Sarah, I know how much this hurts. I look at photos of your little Angel and he looks so full of life, his cute smile. There are no magic fixes and this devastation is a life long sentence for us all. The only comfort is in believing that our Angels were SO special and loved and too good for this world that God took them to Heaven. Matthew, wherever you are, give your Family lots of Angel hugs and love for those hugs and that love is now coming from Heaven and is blessed. May it bring with it a little peace to get through the next day. Thinking of your lovely family.x

I said,'God, I hurt'And God said,'I know'I said,'God, I cry a lot'And God said,'That is why I gave you tears'I said,'God I am so depressed'And God said,'That is why I gave you sunshine'I said,'God, life is so hard'And God said,'That is why I gave you loved ones'I said,'God my loved one died'And God said,'So did mine'I said,'God, it is such a loss'And God said,'I saw mine nailed to a cross'I said,'But your loved one lives'And God said,'So does yours'I said,'God where is he now?'And God said,'Mine is on the rightand yours is in the light'I said,'God, it hurts'And God said,'I know'~ Author Unknown ~

So True! / Shirley Ling (visitor)
Sarah,your words are so very true, as much as people try to understand how we are feeling they never can! death of a child is something you have to experience to even begin to understand how painful it is, i try to put into words the pain and how it feels, all i can say is it is like the pain of childbirth we all know the pain at the time but, "you have to experience it to know how it feels" i hope this makes sense!! this is how i explain the hurt of the loss of my beautiful Gemma, our grief is still so raw as is yours, you have created a beautiful tribute to such a lovely happy little boy! yes we all have to go through with the day to day chores of life we have no choice! but we can also wear a mask so as to appear "normal" what ever that is. we can never revert back to the happy fulfilled lives we had before our childs death! however long we live life will never be the same.

My thoughts are with you and may you continue to keep Mattthew alive through this wonderful site. x

A similar loss / Lisa Hendrickson (a visitor )
My heart aches for you. I, also, lost a child to meningitis. My precious Ireland was recieved by God on April 6th, 2005. She lived a short life of only three weeks. A quote I would like to share from a poem I have read; "God broke our hearts to prove he only takes the best." I try to believe that to be true. Our Angel's were both too perfect for this wolrd. With heartfelt sympathy, I pray for you. Close

People think if they don't talk about you, I wont hurt, if they don't talk about you I may forget, but I wont ever forget, or stop hurting.My love Always Spiderman xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

BEING THERE

Do you know of someone Whose precious child has died? Perhaps she is a neighbour or friend With whom you can confide. You assume that she is suffering A tragedy so deep, That there is nothing you can do Since all she does is weep. You feel that if you see her There is nothing you can say That would make her precious child come back Or make the pain go away. And if by chance you meet her And have to face her grief, You'll do your very best To make this meeting brief. You'll talk about the weather Or the lady down the lane, But you'll never mention her child - That would cause her too much pain! And when the funeral's over, And all is said and done, You'll go home to your family, And she'll be all alone. She'll go on, she'll be allright, time heals - Or so it seems, While she's left alone to pick up the pieces Of her shattered life and dreams.

-OR-

You can open your heart And find that special place Where compassion and true giving Are awaiting your embrace. "Today I'm thinking of you in a very special way," Or, how about "I Love You!" Are some loving thing to say. Sometimes a very simple task Like picking up the phone, Can help her feel not-so-quite Desperately alone. Whatever comes from a genuine heart Cannot be said in vain For the truth is, it's these very things That lessen her great pain. And when you let her talk about Her child who is now dead, You'll know this is far greater Than anything you've said. So will you reach out with all your soul And let her know you care? For in the end there's no substitute For simply BEING THERE

Its just Mum again / Mum Dear Matthew,I am not sure how I am supposed to do this. People see me smile, sometimes laugh, they think I have forgotten, 'moved on' but I haven't.The tears come at night when Im on my own, when Josh and Charlotte are in bed and I am tired from going up and down stairs to check that they are still breathing. Thats when I grieve for you and wonder how on earth this happened.Or days like today when it feels like realising it all over again, suddenly I get the thought in my head "Matthew isnt coming back, he died" and I feel like Im in shock again, then the shock wears off and the tears start all over, I cry until I cant have any tears left, and then I cry some more. My only relief is a tiny white tablet that helps me to sleep, then I get a rest from the pain for a few hours.I have no idea how Im supposed to live the rest of my life without you and some days I dont even want to, but I have to keep going, I cant say carry on, its just surviving each day until my time comes to be with you again.I miss you so much Matt All my love foreverMum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxClose

A few words from mum / Mum Hiya Matt, Today has been hard, I went with Grandad to order your headstone. I just got up this morning and knew I had to do it today. Before we went I asked you to come with us and make sure we got it right. We went and had a look at some but I'd already chosen the one I thought you'd like. We were sat waiting for the lady to sort it all out when I saw something on the ceiling, I showed Grandad the tiny spider and we decided you were there watching over us.They are going to put a little spiders web on your stone which I know you'd approve of.When we were coming out a lady told us it was a nice stone, Its not nice, I shouldn't have to chose a headstone for you, you should choose one for me in many years to come. This is the way it is now though, I dont have a choice so I picked the one that was the 'nicest'.I hope you'll like it.Grandad and I went for some lunch then and Grandad was telling me that you had been messing with the door locks and lights in his car, we all feel better knowing that you are still with us so dont forget to keep coming to visit and let us know.We miss you so much, be a good boy and before you know it I will be there with you.My love always to my special SpidermanMum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxClose

Happy Easter / Mum Hi Matthew,Its your first Easter in Heaven, I know you wont eat too many eggs, you'll be too busy sharing them out between your new Angel friends.Its been almost four months since you got your wings and not a day passes where I dont think of you and miss you terribly, I suppose these 'special' times just make us realise how much we miss spoiling you.Id give anything to buy you an egg and have you give me a big hug in return. You were so 'cuddly' a real mummys boy and I miss that too.My arms and my heart are empty without you, I know time has no meaning where you are, but it seems like forever to me.Play nice and fly high with your Angel friends and in the blink of an eye (for you) I will be there to hug you once more.My love forever special little manMum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxClose

Hey Matthew / Gail Richardson
Hi Matthew - It's Gail here - yes that's right Meshael's mum!! Just wanted you to know that we are all doing our best to help your Mummy not to be sad. You know that she misses you so, so much. I know that you have lots of friends there in Heaven - but just try to send your Mummy a little Angel hug now and then, so she knows that you are always around her. Tell Meshael and all the other Angels that we miss them too. God Bless sweetheartlots of loveGail Close

Our Little Angel Is With Your Little Angel / Emma &. Karl Mason
Our thoughts and prayers are with you today and everyday as we know how hard it is to lose a child, people say to me it gets better in time but for us it gets worse, not been able to play with dylan and not been able to watch barney with him it all hurts. He looks a lovely boy and you must be very proud to be his mummy!!! GOD BLESS MATTHEW XXXXXXX Close

Mothers Day / Mum (Matthews Mum)Dear Matt,Its the first Mothers Day without you here and I miss you so much, every day hurts without you but today the tears just wont stop as I imagine how it would have been if you hadn't gone. Whenever it was a birthday or Christmas, Easter or Mothers Day, Charlotte would take you upstairs and you would both make cards. There would be paint, glue and glitter all over the floor but you'd be looking so proud of yourselves, you'd had fun. This year she hasnt made any, I dont think she wants to do things without you now.So this year there are no cards and thats the way I want it.My heart breaks for you, Ive had enough, I want you to come home now.My love always and forever, each day that passes is a step closer to being with you and giving you a big hug and kiss, til then, be a good boy and remember how much I love you.Always and foreverMum xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxClose

Fly, fly little wingFly beyond imaginingThe softest cloud, the whitest doveUpon the wind of heaven's lovePast the planets and the starsLeave this lonely world of oursEscape the sorrow and the painAnd fly again

Fly, fly precious oneYour endless journey has begunTake your gentle happinessFar too beautiful for thisCross over to the other shoreThere is peace forevermoreBut hold this mem'ry bittersweetUntil we meet

Fly, fly do not fearDon't waste a breath, don't shed a tearYour heart is pure, your soul is freeBe on your way, don't wait for meAbove the universe you'll climbOn beyond the hands of timeThe moon will rise, the sun will setBut I won't forget

Fly, fly little wingFly where only angels singFly away, the time is rightGo now, find the light.